Postcardist

Artists. Business owners. Comedians. Dancers. Sisters.

Those are just a few descriptors for Leah and Grace, aka Tiny & Snail. That's the name of their business and their nicknames. Tiny & Snail is a stationery company led by two creative sisters who have a compelling goal: Bringing magic back to mailboxes with cards that people want to keep.

There's magic in the mail. That's Tiny & Snail's tagline. And there's magic in this show. Get writing. And dancing.

Tiny & Snail website

Tiny & Snail on Instagram

Let them mail cake. That's what Tiffany of Tiffany's Postal Treats says. This show combines two of my favorite things: postcards...and cake.

Tiffany's Postal Treats on Instagram

Tiffany's Postal Treats on Etsy

I'm joined this week by Elise Barras of Elise Loves Letters. Elise tells us about postcard collecting, letter writing, and scrambling to the top of big climbs in the Peak District of England, only to find a Mr. Whippy ice cream vendor at the top. Plus, she tells us about The Ancient One and how to have a proper cup of Yorkshire tea. Sit back, sip your tea, and get ready for some real delight.

This show is an audio movie. It's that rich with sights and sounds. And if you use your imagination, you'll be transported to Mumbai, India. I talked with Bhumika Israni from there. Bhumika is a huge postcard enthusiast (find out what happened to her room), letter writer, and connector. And she's a medical student who also collects stamps.

This is a show to treasure. And come join us at the Department of Lost Letters.

References in this show:

Bhumika on Instagram

Yellow postcards in India

Paper Jewels of the Raj by Omar Khan

Dead Letter Office (what we like to call the Department of Lost Letters)

These are trying times. And with the onset of Covid Summer, where we really can't travel anywhere, my guest Amina McCain decided to do something about that. To create connections. And that's where Amina's Pen Pal Club originated.

In this show, I talk with Amina about creating her pen pal club, writing plays and monologues, acting in musicals, and drawing sketches for her original fashion designs.

All this at age 13. Yes, Amina is a teenager. And an accomplished one.

The essence of this show is that every creative endeavor starts with the word. And that is especially true with postcard and letter writing. So, tune in and be inspired.

In this episode, host Frank Roche is joined by Postcrossing execs Paulo Magalhães and Ana Campos to celebrate the 15th anniversary of the launch of the global postcard phenomenon.

We talk about the origin story of Postcrossing, the challenges of scaling up so rapidly, the dance that Paulo and Ana do for every million cards sent, and how the Postcrossing community organized and developed over the past 15 years.

References:

Ana Campos talking at TEDxOporto about how postcards connect people

Postcrossing

Show us your happy mailbox on the Postcrossing blog

Postcrossing history

Paulo and Ana and the Postcrossing team

Frank Roche (The Postcardist) on Postcrossing

This week I'm joined by the talented mother-daughter team of Jess Davis and Charlie Davis. Jess is the proprietor of The Snail's Mail, a New Zealand-based postcard shop. And Charlie is a postcard designer. Did I mention she's 10 years old?

In this show we talk about Charlie's new postcard design that's available on The Snail's Mail store now. Jess talks about the new designs she has available, the challenges of postcarding in the Age of Covid, and lets us in on another creative project she has in development

Find The Snail's Mail here

You can buy Charlie's "adventure" postcard here

The Snail's Mail on Instagram

Jess on Instagram

In this episode, I'm joined by postcard entrepreneur Kate Wiggins of Sugar & Kiki. We talk about her postcard store, postcard designing, the joy of writing postcards, and Julia Sugarbaker (the Sugar of Sugar & Kiki).

Sugar and Kiki

Sugar and Kiki Blog

18 Million Thanks

Who would guess that a postcard connection would result in a discussion of a Tarantula Hawk Wasp? Not me. But in this episode, I talk with Blaize Sun, who is a writer and postcard designer based in Taos, New Mexico. Blaize and I cover topics as varied as where to find postcards in thrift stores, what people expect to get when they get a postcard, what it's like to not have rural mail delivery....and tarantula hawk wasps.

Links to what we discussed in E75:

Rubber Tramp Artist website

Rubber Tramp Artist Patreon link

Postcards designed by Blaize (including the tarantula hawk wasp card)

Background on the Tarantula Hawk Wasp and its painful sting

Postcards connect people. And now, more than ever, postcards connect us to each other and to an enduring story during the Covid-19 pandemic. I'm joined in this episode by postcard collector extraordinaire, Mark Routh, who takes us through the early days of collecting postcards and stamps and ephemera about the novel coronavirus pandemic that has dominated our world in 2020.

Mark has assembled a very large collection of Covid-related materials. And he talks about the countries and territories that were first to publish stamps and postcards related to the pandemic. Have any guesses what country was first? Or second? Or sixth? Mark tells us.

This is a look at how a world-class collector assembles a collection. It goes beyond postcards -- and is part of an historical narrative. This is a defining moment of our time -- and Mark takes us through many considerations for looking at the pandemic through a collector's lens. Plus, he treats us to an uplifting poem at the conclusion.

You can find Mark at Mark's Postcard Chat. (He also has a Facebook account that's great to keep up with daily. He scans four or more cards every day and gives a discussion of the card and source.)

Other items discussed in this show:

Delcampe Collectibles Auction Site

Swiss Post Covid-19 Solidarity Collector's Stamps

Claire Holstead Poem

Iran Coronavirus Stamp

Isle of Man Stamps and Maxicard

An Post (Ireland) Postcards